How do people cultivate hope in the face of overwhelming challenges?
Last month, sponsored by United Way of Greater New Bedford, RQI partnered with the New Bedford Community Connections Coalition to provide a training for service providers – people working in immigration law, domestic violence shelters, social work, and mental health services.
We presented a strategy that will help their clients advocate for themselves when they need to engage with their children’s schools, the immigration system, public agencies, or in other circumstances.
As in so many other communities throughout the country, the clients in New Bedford face a wide range of challenges.
The city is home to many immigrants from Central America, often fleeing political violence in their home countries to find safety and jobs in the fishing industry: in scallop plants, welding, or painting boats. People in the community are trying to build new lives while simultaneously fighting their immigration cases and trying to help their children in school — in a language they don’t understand.
RQI’s training was about how to build clients’ skills to ask questions and have a voice in decisions that affect them, two seemingly simple skills that are critical for self-advocacy and agency. In places as frequently dehumanizing as immigration court, the housing authority, or administrative proceedings, speaking up for your needs can be actively discouraged.
One participant was a therapist working in an immigration center and is an immigrant herself. She shared during the training, “I work with unaccompanied, undocumented youth. A lot of them are Guatemalan and between the ages of 14 and 20, and they [feel they] have no voice … they’re silent, because as an immigrant [you feel you] have no voice. [This will help them] voice out their specific concerns and know they can be heard.”
Another participant said, “Often we hear from people that they feel unheard when advocating for the right type of mental health or substance use treatment. This method can help us empower individuals and improve their self-advocacy skills.”
Later that day, we ran two sessions in Spanish, one for community advocates and service providers, and another for community members. A participant who is a community member, parent, and advocate for other parents talked about what she had learned in our training:
“Reflexionar que no hay que quedarse callada. Que tenemos muchas dificultades pero preguntar las preguntas que tengamos o que tenemos o que pensamos para buscar ciertas soluciones.” [Upon reflection, we don’t have to stay quiet. We have many difficulties but we must ask the questions we may have or think about in order to find solutions.”]
Time and time again, in communities across the country and beyond, we’ve seen that when people are able to ask their own questions, they feel a new sense of confidence and power. An educational strategy that builds this skill can be the first step toward people being able to advocate effectively for what they and their families need, even in the face of overwhelming challenges.
We hope that you will find some of the resources on our page helpful in supporting your work to achieve legal empowerment — and that they help cultivate hope.
Warm regards,
Naomi Campbell
Legal Empowerment Program Director
We did a training for clients of Project Place, a social service agency in Boston focused on jobs and housing. Click on the video above to hear Richard Wallace talk about the experience.
New Resources
- Resources in Spanish: We have new materials and teaching guides available in Spanish, for teaching people to ask their own questions and participate effectively in decisions.
- Online module: In partnership with the Brown University School of Public Health and the National Education Association Health and Safety Program, RQI has developed a new training module to support more effective partnerships and dialogue between educators and families. Click here to watch.
What your gifts mean
When you make a gift to the Right Question Institute, you help bring free resources to legal professionals who work primarily with low-income clients and communities. Your support helps equip people with skills and strategies for solving problems, participating in decisions, and making their voices heard — in the legal system and beyond. Your gifts help contribute to a more inclusive legal system, society, and democracy. Thank you for your support.